English lightweight and five-time UFC veteran John Maguire has his opponent for his Cage Warriors debut.

Maguire (18-6) will meet Ireland’s Philip Mulpeter (6-3) next month at Cage Warriors 63, the promotion’s year-end show. Maguire recently signed a five-fight deal with the company after being released from the UFC. The fight will come at a 161-pound catchweight.

Cage Warriors 63 takes place Dec. 31 at The Helix in Dublin, Ireland. The main card, as usual, streams live on MMAjunkie.com following prelims on Cage Warriors’ Facebook page.

The 30-year-old Maguire began his career in 2006 as a middleweight before dropping to 170 pounds in 2010. He made his UFC debut in 2011 at UFC 138 event, picking up a unanimous decision over Justin Edwards. At UFC on FUEL TV 2 in Sweden, he won the “Submission of the Night” bonus by tapping out DaMarques Johnson.

“Being the Cage Warriors champion is now my aim, and this is the first step on the way to that,” Maguire stated. “Philip Mulpeter, you called down thunder. Well, now you’ve got it.”

Mulpeter will fight in front of his home fans in Ireland. Like Maguire, he’s a former welterweight making his way down to what he believes will be his new home at lightweight. He trains with the SBG team that includes UFC featherweight standout and former two-division Cage Warriors champion Conor McGregor, as well as Cage Warriors welterweight champ Cathal Pendred.

Mulpeter got back on track after a loss to Tommy Quinn in his promotional debut on the 2012 year-end card when he stopped Warren Kee in the second round of Cage Warriors 56. Vicious elbows put an end to that fight.

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